Habs' Subban lands on cover of Maclean's magazine

The Canadiens’ P.K. Subban is never one to shy away from the spotlight and now he finds himself on the cover of the Canada Day issue of Maclean’s magazine wearing a pair of red swim trunks and a Canadian flag tank top.

“My parents migrated to Canada when they were young and began adapting to the culture right away,” Subban says in the magazine. “We’ve always been well integrated, and I think July 1 has come to signify that for us.”

He adds: “My parents used to tell me something I now know to be true: Canada is completely different from the United States. The U.S. is great — a lot of people like living there because it’s a bigger market. But there’s just something about Canada, a character; an understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong.

“Canada gave my family an opportunity to be successful, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s up to you to take advantage of it.”

Below is a column I wrote about Subban and his family background when he broke in with the Canadiens during the 2010 playoffs:

(Photo by Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

A star is born and his name is P.K.

PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE ON MAY 16, 2010

STU COWAN GAZETTE SPORTS EDITOR

His name is Pernell Karl Subban, but Canadiens fans already know him simply as P.K.

So, where does that name come from?

“I remember the day he was born, going to the hospital and my wife had one of those magazines about movie stars,” P.K.’s father, Karl, said. “I remember Pernell Roberts from (the TV show) Bonanza. My wife liked Pernell, and for whatever reason I said Karl, and that’s how P.K. came about.”

How long have people been calling him P.K.?

“It’s something that started from the day he was born almost,” his father said.

I reached Karl Subban by phone on Thursday in his office at Toronto’s Brookview Middle School, where he is the principal. It was the day after the Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a 5-2 Game 7 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. P.K., who turned 21 on Thursday, had just over 23 minutes of ice time, picked up an assist and was plus-1. Karl watched Game 7 at home with his wife, Maria, and P.K.’s grandfather.

“It’s been overwhelming … it’s been exciting,” Karl said about the ultimate Hockey Dad experience. “We’re excited for P.K. and we’re very happy for Montreal. Things have happened very quickly and it has been a little overwhelming.”

In nine playoff games since being called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs, P.K. has one goal, three assists and is plus-3, while averaging more than 20 minutes a game of ice time. During the Canadiens’ 4-3 Game 6 victory over the Penguins, the 6-foot, 206-pound rookie defenceman had a remarkable 29:11 of ice time and was plus-2.

But logging lots of ice time is nothing new for P.K., who first put on a pair of skates at age 21/2 and started playing house-league hockey at 4.

When P.K. was in kindergarten, he had the afternoon class and his father was working as an an elementary school administrator and also as vice-principal of the continuing education evening program at Runnymede Collegiate. After returning home from a long day of work, Karl would wake P.K. and they would go skating together.

“When he was younger, the goal was for him to skate every day in the winter,” Karl explained. “The outdoor rink down at (Toronto’s) Nathan Phillips Square opens up usually at the end of October. I did the night school, and P.K. was in the afternoon kindergarten classes. We’d go there and skate from 10 p.m. until 1 or 2 in the morning. I’d bring him home and he’d sleep, and then wake up in time for school and my wife would feed him breakfast and he’d then jump on the school bus.

“We did that a number of times, but that was just one of the things. I really believe that if you want to be good at something, you have to work hard at it, and if you start young, which P.K. did, that supported his success today.”

Karl, whose family moved from Jamaica to Sudbury, Ont., when he was 11, never played organized hockey. But once arriving in Canada, he quickly fell in love with the game, playing on the outdoor rink at the end of his street and later at the intramural level at Lakehead University. He also fell in love with the junior Sudbury Wolves and the Canadiens. So, when the Canadiens selected P.K. in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2007 NHL entry draft, it really was a dream come true.

“When his name was called on draft day, it was unbelievable,” Karl said. “We have a picture of P.K. putting on the Montreal jersey and Bob Gainey standing beside him looking at him. That picture, to me, says it all.”

Now that his son is in the NHL, Karl is proud to use him as a role model for the students he deals with on a day-to-day basis.

“‘P.K. has been to the school and I take every opportunity to remind them about his hard work,” Karl said. “He doesn’t have a gift … it’s not like he has this extra talent. What he has done is work hard and he’s grabbed the opportunities that were presented to him, and they can do the same in life, whatever path they decide to take.

“I tell the kids here, you work on your abilities and you work on your personality. Your abilities are skills. In P.K.’s case, it’s all the hockey skills he has to work on, and then the other thing is his personality. You want people to respect you and you want to be nice to people, you want to be kind to people. I’m so proud of the fact that he’s doing well in hockey, but I’m more proud of the person that he is.

“He’s learning how to be a good hockey player, but he’s also learning life skills, and that’s the way I look at it. Because he won’t be playing hockey forever, but if he learned the ethic of hard work, wow, he’ll always be successful.”

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